peters



mi IM@ llllllllllllllll 'Il' .wul

ROBERT J. CLAY, Or WILLIAMSBURG, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO J. n. CLARK, R. WALSH, J. DONALDSON, AND r. 1a. WALSH.

Letters Patent No: 60,859, dated January 1, 1867.

@Age tlgehnl referat tu im tigers Bltttrrs zrtmtzmh nmtug'gvrt 11i its am.

TO ALL WHOM I'I MAY CQNCERN:

Be it known that I, ROBERT J; CLAY, of Williamsburg, Kings county, and State of New York, have inveuetd a new and improved Cotton-,Cleaning and Re-linting Machine; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,

clear, .and exact description thereof, which will enable Others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section ofthe machine taken in the lin'e :v x, g. 2.

Figure 2 is a plan of the machine. p

Figure 3 represents detached views of the teeth or pickers employed for. separating the. libres of the cotton wool. J

Figure 4 is a partial section view showing the mode of attaching and arranging the teeth on the face ofthe revolving cylinders.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.`

yThis invention relates to a machine for cleaning and re-linting cotton wool which has been damaged by matting the fibres together and becoming foul with dirt or any extraneous substances. Cotton in this condition is greatly deteriorated in value on account of the diiculty which has hitherto attended all attempts to disengage the matted bres and restore the cotton to its original lloose and leecy state without entangling and breaking the staple. By this machine dirty and matted cotton is thoroughly cleaned without injury to the staple, and it is re-linted or restored to its original condition of iieeciness upon which its commercial value and tnessformanufacturing purposes wholly depend. The damaged cotton is passed between and against rollers, two or more of which are provided withteeth or pickers peculiarly formed at their points so as to penetrate into the mass of malted fibres and by a uniform bearing separate and disentangle thein from each other without injury to the ibrous integrity of the staple,.and by means of a series of wire roller sieves and travelling-screens over and under which the cotton asses in oin throu h the machine while it is sub'ected to a stron current of air rodueed b a fan- P g g J g P Y blower, .the dirt and dust associated with it are sifted'aud driven out of the cotton. Treated in this vmanner the dirty, locculentcotton isI perfectlycleaned and restored to the evenly laid, eecy condition of the staple as it came from the gin. y

A represents along rectangular framesupported on proper standards or legs, a a. Within the frame are placed two horizontal endless aprons B B', which travel longitudinally in one direction from the head of the machine to its foot on suitable' rollers, b b, b' b', connected with positive gearing to give them' motion. These aprons are -forme l ci' stout wire laid transversely from opposite sides of the frame quite near together, but suiiciently far apard to allow of coarse particles of dirt or trash to fall through when the cotton passes over them,

as subsequently explained. In a position nearly central ofthe machine a large revolving wire sieve cylinder, D,

is placed transversely from side te side over the delivery end and near tothe travelling-apron, B; and also over the delivery end and near to the travelling-apron B', is placed a smaller wire gauze revolving cylinder, D', both of which cylinders receive motion in the same direction from suitable gearing. At tl1e`head of the machine a revolving wooden cylinder, E, is placed across it from side to side, on the periphery of which are sot rows of teeth or cotton-picking pins, c c, arranged in parallel lines' longitudinally, alternating with each other or in positions opposite the spaces in adjoining rows, as shown in tig. 2. The teeth are round wire pins pointed in a'novel and peculiar way, and headed as shown" full size in detached view Nos. 1, 2, iig. 3. The end of the pin is chamfered on oursides, forming a pyramidal point,fgiving it a shape which penetrates a mass of iibres and opens or cards them as the cotton passeszagainst the cylinder, without the excessive or breaking strain which attends any other vknown formy of teeth.- In advance of the wire cylinder D and the travelling-apron B is placed another and smaller revolving wooden cylinder, E, the face of which is set with teeth of the same shape and arranged in the same manner as on the cylinder E. But the teeth on the two cylinders are made of different sizes as shown vby iig. S--No. 1 being a larger size for the larger cylinder E, and No. 2 being a smaller size for the smaller cylinder E'.; The teeth are fastened by inserting them in strong leather. which is wrapped around the cylinders with the heads of the pins next to the periphery, as shown in g.v4. Between the rows ofteeth are laid wooden strips or battens, d jig. 4,- which are screwed upon the cylinder to hold the leather down and at the same time support the teeth in an upright position, leaving about half an inch of' their length projecting above the batt-ens. At the head ci' the ruachine is placed a horizontal apron, F, indicated in red, which is made to travel forward by and between a pair of small transverse rollers, e e', moved by the gearing of the machine, which apron receives the cotton to be cleaned, spread by hand over its surface, and delivers it to and between anothersiinilar pair of rollers, ff', situated in-line with the rollers e e', and between them and the cylinder E, so as just to clear the points of the teeth c c. Immediately against the cylinder E is placed another pair of similar rollers, g y', and between it and the front end of the travelling-apron B, which delivers the cotton "to the rollers, so that in" passing between them it is caught by the teeth of the cylinder E. All the small rollers just described are made of iron sheathed with vulcanized India rubber, which is `found to bejlhe best material for the surface-of rollers to carry the cotton.- The rollers are all connected with positive gearing, as indicated bythe cog-wheels on their ends, by which they are rotated. Below the cylinders E E',\are.placed wire screens t L', for catching the cotton as it falls from them and moves on to the travelling-aprons B B. At the head of the machine and below the cylinder E is placed a blower fan, G, which is suitably boxed and arranged for driving arpowerful blastup under the cylinder against the cotton as it passes forward upon the travelling-apron B. Themachine is all boxed in above with moyable sheathing to cover the cylinders and wire screen travelling-aprons as shown by iig. 1, so that the current of air forced in'by'the fan blower shall circulate freely through the cotton while. passing thrmlgh the machine, and thc lighter particles of trash and dust shall be blown up into an exit iiue, H, placed over the wire cylinder D, while the heavier particles of dirt fall through the travelling-screens B B'. The flue H leads out- .side of the building where the work is done. The revolving cylinder, travelling-screens,I and blower fan, are all actuated by suitable gearing which is indicated in the drawings but not herein described, as the mode of applying power and motion is unessential and irrelevant to the claims in the invention. i

The operation of the machine is as follows Y The damaged cotton is spread by hand upon the outside travelling-apron F,-whi ch conveys it in a sheeted or batted form between 'the rollers e e', which deliver it to theadjoiningrollers ff'; passing between them it is caught by the teeth c c upon the cylinder E, which revolves from right to'left or downwardly against' the cotton batting, so that the teeth c c penetrate through it and separate the fibres; the cotton falls upon t he screen 7L and is carried by the cylinderE upon the travelling-screen B, which conveys it forward up to the wire cylinder D, the motion of which is also from right to left, and carries the cotton under and against the front end of the travelling-screen B, pressing it down iiat so that the sheet of batting thus formed passes forward between therollers g g', which deliver it to the revolving cylinder E', the teeth of which catch and separate the libres again as beforel and deliver it in a iieecy condition upon the travelling-screen B', which carries it forward to the wire cylinderD', .also revolving froml right to left and pressing the cotton down upon-the front endof the travelling-screen B', which delivers it into aproper receptacle in a clean and nierchant'able condition.

Having fully described the construction and principles of operation of my invention, what I claim asnew, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is I 1. I claim the machine for cleaning and re-linting damaged cotton, constructed and arranged substantially as herein dcscribed.- g i i 2. I claim the toothed revolving cylinders E E', and the rubber-sheathed rollers e e', ff', and g g2? in combination with the fan blower G, the travelling-screens B B', and the, revolving wire cylinders D D', connected and operated substantially as and for the purposes herein described.

3. I claim the cylinder teeth c c, chamfered on four sides to form a pyramidal pointed picker, 'in the manner and for the purposes herein specified. l l y Y The above specification of my invention signed by methis 11th day oi' July, 1866. l

' R. J. CLAY.

Witnesses:l

WM. F. MCNAMARA, I ALEX. F. Ronnnrs. 

